Dumping car



April 21 1936.- A N. Sim-[H 2(538245 DUMPING CAR I Filed Oct. 6, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ALBERT N. SMITH INVENTOR F1 q E BY f ATTORN EY A. N. SMlTH DUMPING CAR Ami? 21, 1936.,

Filed Oct. 6, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HLBERT N. 5mm

INVENTOR Patented Apr. 21, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to dumping cars and has for its principal object the providing of an improved and simplified car structure to move laterally and tilt a load of cinder or molten metal, with a relative saving in cost of manufacture and maintenance.

This object is accomplished by reducing the actuated force needed, decreasing the friction, and relieving lateral strains in the car end frame to which the dumping unit is attached.

A further object is to provide means, with little change, for dumping the load either to the right or to the left of the railroad track without taking the car to a turntable or railroad Y.

A still further object is to provide a dumping unit that can be completely assembled in the machine shop or on an assembly floor ratherthan on the car.

Ordinarily this type of dumping car has a container or ladle supported within a frame which is caused to roll laterally on trunnion gears and has the actuating force applied either at the center or at some other point within the periphery of the trunnion gears. My invention has the driving force applied in a line parallel to the supporting track and at the top of the circumference of the trunnion gears, thereby giving increased leverage. This force is always exerted in the direction needed to carry through the tilting movement. When compressed air, steam, or other fluid is to be used as the actuating power, a cylinder of relatively small diameter can be used to do the desired work. The cylinder shell, cylinder heads, and piston in this invention are of relatively small diameters and less thickness, obviously constituting a part of the saving of cost of manufacture. Less fluid will be needed in operating the device when small cylinders are used.

Where the center line of the cylinder is not coincident with the lateral track on which the trunnion gears roll, there is an eccentricity of the driving force, and friction cannot be wholly avoided. Usually cylinders, crossheads, or such moving members of the dumping mechanism have had a sliding motion on guide rods. In my construction guide rods with their bushings have been replaced by wheels and tracks. The wheels are provided with roller or ball bearings and oil seals, and their location is such that they are protected from dirt or splash, thus avoiding much friction.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the dumping car.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the dumping mechanism.

Figure 3 is a cross section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an obverse view, partly in section, of the back of the cylinder and connecting parts.

Figure 5 is a plan view, partly in cross section, showing a locking bridge member.

The numeral l designates a car with standard trucks and couplers. This car I is provided with a central curved sill 2. A container or ladle 3 is carried in a frame 4. This frame 4 has oppositely disposed ends upon which are secured trunnion gears 5 which run on supporting tracks 6. Part of the face of each trunnion gear 5 is provided with teeth and part with a smooth rolling surface with its diameter equal to the diameter of the pitch circle of the gear teeth. Between the rack teeth are slotted openings through which dirt and the like may fall.

By referring to the drawings it will also be seen that the power mechanism for dumping comprises a cylinder 1 with a stationary piston 8. Bolted to the top portion of the cylinder 1 there is a top driving rack 9, which meshes with the teeth of one of the trunnion gears 5. On the top of the cylinder 1 at each end is attached a horizontal guide wheel l0, preferably provided with roller bearings, and on the bottom of the cylinder 1 at each end there is provided a vertical guide wheel ll, preferably equipped with ball bearings. The upper horizontal guidewheels I0 travel within an inverted channel guide I2, and the vertical guide wheels I I travel on a horizontal guide track l3.

The pressure fluid is supplied from a train line pipe [4 through a connecting pipe I6 and a cutout cock 15 to a four-way valve l1. On each side of the piston 8 there are ports I8 through which the air or steam is admitted to and exhausted from the cylinder 1 through pipes l9 and the four-way valve H. The exhaust is regulated by throttle valves 20 and 2|, one of which is open and the other throttled. When the ladle 3 is to be dumped to the left, the left hand valve 20 is fully open and the valve 2| is throttled to regulate the speed of dumping. When it is desired to dump the ladle 3 to the right the valve 2| is fully opened and the valve 20 is throttled.

By referring to the drawings it will be seen that there is provided a U-shaped frame member 22 to which the dumping mechanism and lock ing devices are fastened and which has an end stop 23 with which the cylinder head comes in contact when the ladle 3 is in an upright position. The ladle 3 is held in this vertical position by the additional means of an eccentrically weighted lock member 24. A ladle lock lever 25 is attached to a shaft 26 which rotates the eccentrically weighted lock member 24. The admittance of power fluid is locked by raising a power fluid lock lever 21 to a vertical position between the jaws of a clevis 28. When the ladle lock lever 25 and the power fluid lock lever 21 are both vertical the locks are made doubly secure by a locking bridge member 29 which is placed over the ends of the levers 25 and 21. A lever 30 operates a shaft 3| running through a plunger in the four-way valve l1.

The drawings show the ladle 3 locked in an upright position and the cylinder 1 positioned to dump on the right side. To change the dumping side to the left, remove the bolts which secure the top driving rack 9 to the cylinder 1. Now allow the pressure fluid to move the cylinder 1 to the other end and rebolt. The diameter and teeth of the trunnion gears 5 and the location of the end stops 23 and car sill 2 are so designed that at one end of the stroke the ladle 3 is in an upright position with a cylinder head in contact with the end stop 23 and the other end of the stroke is terminated by the ladle 3 coming in contact with the car sill 2 in order to jar loose any skull or slag sticking to the interior of the ladle 3. When changing the side of dumping the levers 25 and 21 and 39 together with the locking bridge member 29 and the end stop 23 will be placed on the operators side of the car and the throttle valves set as above stated.

The operation of unlocking and dumping the device is as follows: The operator should see that the cut-out cock I5 is open. Remove the locking bridge member 29 from. the top of the levers 25 and 21 and pull the lever 21 down as far as the clevis 28 will permit. Fill the chambers of the cylinder 1 with the power fluid. This is done by the manipulation of the lever 39 by pushing and pulling the same. Leave the lever 39 in a neutral or half-way location and then turn the ladle lock lever 25 down to a horizontal position, that is, move it a one-quarter turn. Everything is now unlocked and ready for the operation of dumping. Manipulate the lever 30 thereby admitting fluid into the cylinder which now starts moving and the driving top rack 9 attached thereto rolls the trunnion gears 5 on the track 6 tilting the ladle 3. The end of the stroke is completed by the ladle 3 hitting against the car sill 2 jarring loose any skull or slag that may have stuck within the ladle 3. If any skull or solidified slag still clings to the interior of the ladle 3 manipulate the lever 30 until the ladle 3 has been moved upwardly about six inches and then reverse the lever 30 quickly. When all the contents of the ladle 3 have been dumped, move the lever 30 slowly as the ladle 3 reaches the upright position at the end of the stroke. Now place the lever 30 at a neutral position. Lock both levers 25 and 21 and then turn off the cut-out cock l5.

What I claim is:-

1. The combination in a dumping car of the usual tilting and lateral moving car body mounted on wheels and rolling on tracks, trunnion gears attached to or integral with said wheels, rack teeth adjacent to said track and below said trunnion gears, said trunnion gears meshing with said rack teeth, actuating power comprising a stationary piston and a moving cylinder, a driving rack attached to the moving cylinder in which said piston is stationary, a rigid U-shaped frame having its vertical ends and intervening horizontal part integrally formed, said frame coni stituting cylinder supports and base of trunnion track.

2. The combination in a dumping car of the usual tilting and lateral moving car body mounted on wheels and rolling on tracks, trunnion gears attached to or integral with said wheels, rack teeth adjacent to said track and below said trunnion gears, said trunnion gears meshing with said rack teeth, actuating power comprising a stationary piston and a moving cylinder, a pair of horizontal guide wheels attached to upper portion of said cylinder, an inverted channelguide member for said horizontal wheels for the purpose of preventing molten slag or metal from forming an obstruction on the guides, a pair of 

